Baby Summit Key Takeaways

1. Preparation is difficult before the baby exists. Every baby is different! However, @Grace B. would like some prep for the birth and one month after. (Relatedly: Our goal is to make it to Massachusetts within one month of birth. However, health and sanity are prioritized. If we do make it to MA, we will want our own space.
2. Simone and Wilhelmina are two top names. (It seems as if we’re interested in old European names.)
3. We both want our child be techno-literate. That said, screen time may be a consideration as well as content being consumed and the amount of time spent with non-technical activities.
4. 8 states that begin with the letter M.

Preparation for Birth

List of (material) (source: The Bump)

Baby Shower To Do (1)

Birth

Birth begins before the baby is in the womb. With that understood, it’s very important that Mama @Grace B. feels supported and confident. Being an invested partner is more than just holding a hand while @Grace B. is in labor. To @Grace B., investment looks like:

• Knowing what options are available
• Knowing her preferences
• Being an advocate

For Grace, hearing about traumatic births is not helpful. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know issues that might arise and options so that we can make the best decisions for Grace and Baby.

Also, preparation is key. Grace doesn’t want to be surprised with options she hasn’t thought about and discussed with her birth team (me and Lissa).

Here is a document on Birth Preparation.

Childcare During Year 1

In an ideal world, both of us would not like to rely on full-time childcare in the babies first year. There are a few models of childcare. One model is a combo with family and @Grace B. with @Grace B. working part-time. If both of us were working full-time, we would rely on professional childcare that hopefully keeps our values at heart.

We will need to consider @Grace B.‘s schedule if she has projects. Many of her projects will last several months can could be far away from family. Something to think about!

Location / Living Space

We both value mobility. Ideally, we would like to divide our time between New Orleans and Massachusetts. We realize that as the baby gets closer to school age, we may have to root ourselves in one place. Financial and project-based considerations may alter our hope for a 50/50 split. Like so many aspects of planning family life, we’ll see what happens!